135) Chapter 20. Because I Hate Villains! (4)

If there was something only I knew, then naturally there was only one thing to talk about.

Knowledge of the future.

Of course, by now, that knowledge had become incredibly vague. I still remembered a few major incidents, but compared to the beginning—which I had read so obsessively—the later parts were almost completely blurry.

I hadn’t even known Jinwoo was a girl. When people mentioned drifting later on, I thought it was some kind of NTR storyline.

Back when the Witch attacked, Instructor Justina had already said something once that felt like she was seeing straight through my thoughts.

Honestly, that scared me a little.

Like everything I failed to prevent would become my fault.

Even now, I still thought it was my fault.

But there was a huge difference between someone actually bringing it up and demanding responsibility, versus me quietly carrying it alone in my head.

“Hmm. Or should I start with my own story first?”

Maybe she noticed how tense I was, because Instructor Justina spoke first.

“What do you think about my ability?”

“Huh? Um… that you can read other ability users’ powers…”

“Right. Something like that. Just by looking at someone, I can tell whether they have an ability or not. I can even get a fairly detailed sense of what kind of ability it is. Pretty interesting, right? But can you guess how it works?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You know how I said I can sense it pretty specifically? But since it’s an ‘ability,’ it’s not like text just pops up in front of my eyes.”

“Ah.”

Well, that made sense.

Honestly, it would’ve been convenient if a status window really did appear in front of my eyes. Stats, level-ups during battles, all that.

But my ability was more like training a muscle—you had to steadily work at it. And naturally, I had no idea how far it could grow, or what its limits were. Right now I could extend it into three hands, but I still couldn’t wield it as freely as the Witch could.

“I just get a sudden vibe. Ah, do kids these days not say ‘vibe’ anymore? Do you know what I mean?”

“Ah, y-yes, I know.”

“Right. It’s like that. Like I already knew all along—ah, this person probably has this kind of ability. If I get hit by it, this is what would happen. It’s not like someone’s literally explaining it to me in words, though.”

“Right…”

“So generally, if someone has an ability—or if there’s some object being manipulated by that ability—I can tell what it’s connected to. Assuming I can actually see it, anyway.”

Was that why Instructor Justina caught Seo Rua bullying people in the original story?

Probably. If Seo Rua had used telekinesis to lift and throw a flowerpot, then the moment Instructor Justina saw it, she would’ve recognized it as my power.

“Think about it. Honestly, wouldn’t it make sense to call it a miracle granted by heaven?”

“Huh?”

Her sudden question caught me off guard.

“Not just my ability. Yours too. Everyone’s.”

“……”

That was probably how it looked.

Abilities hadn’t existed “from the beginning” in this world. Looking at the whole span of human history, powers had only appeared relatively recently.

Though “recently” still meant a long time ago.

The first person who ever used an ability probably looked like someone blessed with a divine miracle to the religion around them.

“Or like a demon.”

“……”

“Even if two people were born with similar powers, one would be called chosen by God, while the other would be condemned as someone inheriting the devil’s power. What do you think decided the difference?”

“Um… good people and bad people?”

“I wish it had been that simple.”

Instructor Justina let out a short laugh.

“The real answer was whether the church liked them or not. Back then, plagues were considered divine punishment, right? People who simply got sick through bad luck were called cursed by heaven, exiled, abandoned… Do you think anyone actually bothered distinguishing good people from bad people?”

“S-so then…”

“So basically, people just judged however they wanted at the time.”

“……”

“So what do you think happens now? How the church judges abilities?”

“……Good people and bad people?”

“No.”

“Huh? Then what?”

“The answer is: ‘they don’t judge.’”

“Ah.”

“Because the answer’s already decided. Whether someone has superpowers or not, almost nobody can actually speak directly to the One above, right? Well, apparently there were more in the past, but ordinary people like us? Not really.”

“T-that’s true.”

A complete atheist might not believe any of it in the first place.

“So honestly, most of us just say this: we can’t be certain that doing one thing gets us into heaven, and we can’t be certain another thing sends us to hell. Even the villains written about in scripture—who knows whether they’re really in hell or not? We won’t know until we get there ourselves.”

“R-right…”

“So whether an ability is a blessing, or not, or whether it’s just biology—that’s something for the One upstairs to decide.”

“……”

As I tried to figure out why she was telling me all this, Instructor Justina continued.

“So no matter what you say, I won’t judge you.”

“Ah.”

“No matter what anyone says, you seem like a kind kid to me. You don’t look like someone who’d hurt people recklessly.”

“B-but what if I really am a bad person?”

Even as I said it, the question sounded strange.

But still… wasn’t this all a little too trusting?

“Then I was wrong.”

“Ah.”

“That just means I misjudged you. Who else would I blame? I’m just saying that from what I’ve seen so far, you’re the kind of person willing to stand in front of someone terrifying in order to protect other kids. That’s what the word ‘hero’ originally meant. Not just licensed people running around fighting villains.”

“I… I…”

“So won’t you tell me? If it’s uncomfortable, then only the parts you’re okay with.”

“……”

I hesitated for a long moment before finally nodding.

In the original story, Instructor Justina was a good person.

Honestly, my memory wasn’t perfectly clear. The first time I saw her, I couldn’t even remember her name.

But she was still someone the students trusted and followed.

She fought risking her life while never abandoning the kids.

So the reason she was asking me this was probably because she genuinely wanted to protect us.

…Besides, if I kept hiding things when she’d already guessed this much, I’d only look more suspicious.

Maybe bringing me all the way here was her way of saying she wouldn’t casually spread anything I said around.

Or maybe she realized I felt guilty for not speaking sooner.

“I-I can’t explain how I know these things.”

“Okay.”

“A-and also…”

“You can’t exactly talk about this just anywhere, right? I’ll only share it with the principal. Is that alright?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good.”

But even after agreeing, I still wondered if this was really the right thing to do.

What if telling them made things worse?

What if the enemy realized we already knew their plans and changed everything?

If someone who wasn’t supposed to die ended up dying because of me… could I handle that?

But even though I stayed silent for a long time, Instructor Justina didn’t pressure me.

So eventually, I spoke.

“W-when we go outside for activities… someone’s going to target us. Not every time… but…”

“Go on.”

“Y-yes. I don’t know the names, but…”

About the villains who would appear.

About the monsters that would emerge.

I slowly explained everything I could remember.

I had no idea what Instructor Justina thought while listening. Maybe hearing all this only made her more suspicious. No matter what people say, nobody lives completely free of doubt.

Especially when children’s safety is involved.

And later in the story, there was even an outright attack on the academy itself.

I didn’t know whether those plans already existed yet. Was it really okay to tell her in advance?

But still.

I told her.

And once I started talking, it strangely felt like a weight was lifting from my chest.

Like I was dumping responsibility onto someone else.

Like I was becoming lighter.

“Mhm. Mhm.”

After my awkward, disorganized explanation finally ended, Instructor Justina responded with a thoughtful hum.

“That must’ve been hard.”

“Ah.”

And then she said something I didn’t know how to answer.

“However long you’ve known all this, it must’ve been weighing on your mind. That’s why you came to the principal’s office that day, right?”

“……”

I couldn’t answer.

Because if I opened my mouth now, I felt like even more unnecessary things would spill out.

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Pub: 20 May 2026 09:09 UTC

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